The Alberni Valley Bulldogs won their 5th straight game on Saturday night as they defeated the West Kelowna Warriors 3-1 in front of 1648 fans.
The game had a special feeling right from the opening puck drop. The crowd was energized, and so were the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs were gift wrapped a golden opportunity to come flying out of the gates as they were awarded the games first four power play opportunities before the game was 12 minutes old. Remarkably the Warriors killed them all keeping the game scoreless after 20 minutes.
The Bulldogs finally broke through early in the 2nd as captain Nicholas Bentetau’s 2nd effort after a tremendous save by Rorke Applebee found the back of the net to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. For Beneteau, it was his 12th of the season.
In the late stages of the 2nd, Hayden Stavroff was sprung loose and fought off a Warriors defender before tucking it home for a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes. It felt as if the Dawg Pound faithful were going to blow the roof off the Multiplex as Stavroff scored his team-leading 22nd of the year.
In the 3rd the Bulldogs put the game away early as Fischer O’Brien scored his 14th of the year just 1:57 into the final frame. O’Brien has been RED-HOT of late. On top of the goal, O’Brien added a pair of assists for his 2nd straight 3 point outing. Add it up and O’Brien has 9 points in his last 4 games.
The Warriors broke Tung’s shutout bid under a minute later to make it a 3-1 game, but that was as close as they would come as the Bulldogs dug deep, especially when they killed off a double minor to Matt Kursonis with just 6 minutes left.
Tung was named the games 2nd star as he stopped 32 of 33 for his 16th win of the year.
For the Warriors, they suffered just their 8th regulation loss of the season in the loss. The win improved the Bulldogs to 23-14-0-0 and they held on to 2nd place in the Coastal Conference, with Chilliwack and Nanaimo hot on their heels.
Up next for the Bulldogs is a trip back to Duncan to take on the Caps on Friday night, and then a huge contest as the Surrey Eagles come to the Dawg Pound for their first visit of the season. Tickets are available by CLICKING HERE
